The Asha'man
by Joseph Mort
Summary: The Black Tower has been raised and the world sees just how many men can channel. This is the story of a man who becomes an Asha'man from the near beginnings until the Dragon Reborn sees just how deadly they are.
1. Amnesty

Healic Adlen put down his mug of ale and sighed contently. It was nice to indulge in a festive beverage after a day at the shop. _The Black Arrow_ had the best ale, the most tender meat and the prettiest women in Illian. It was a simple building, made of stone and wood, like most others, but to Healic, particularly after a hard day at his carpenter's shop, it was paradise.

Healic was content today and that seemed to be a rarity with the rumors flying about. Some were not rumors anymore though. Earlier last year there were rumors that a man named Logain was the Dragon Reborn and he had been captured and genteled, others said that the Aes Sedia had killed him; still others said that they obeyed him. The same was also said about Mazrim Taim and about dozens of other men over the past few years. Healic, who was 35, had seen a few false Dragons and, thank the Light, they had all been put down in the end, except for one. Rand al'Thor, a boy from a place called The Two Rivers, claimed to be the Dragon Reborn. But he had taken The Stone of Tear, wielded The Sword That Cannot Be Touched and brought back nearly 400,000 savages, Aiel, he thought he heard them named, from their desert home. Tear bowed to him, and gave regular shipments of grain to Illian. Cairhein also bowed to him and he was holding the Lion Throne in Andor to give to Elayne, the Daughter Heir. On top of that he had made a proclamation saying that any man who wanted to see if he could channel could go to him and be safe from Aes Sedia. Healic didn't mind all the commotion in the world. All he cared about was that he had enough timber to complete his orders and that _The Black Arrow_ didn't fire too many barmaids. He didn't think any of the confusion in the world would affect him. He was wrong.

Healic paid for his drink, left the inn and started down the road towards his home. Some habits die hard and he looked both ways before cross the street. He crossed but heard hoof beats to his left. He glanced and saw two men in dark coats, swords at their sides, riding to the center of town. Intrigued as to how these men seemed to pop into existence, Healic followed them to the center of town and heard them speak. A crowd of people was around them but Healic was close to the front.

"We are here to find any man who wishes to serve the Dragon Reborn. The Lord Dragon is building an army and wants the people of the world to fill the ranks. Any who wish to serve come with us."

This worried Healic, he didn't want to join an army. He was strong and fit but he had tried to handle his father's sword when he was 15 and could hardly draw it without stabbing himself. His father had fought in the Aiel War and had kept his armor and weapons. They were Healic's now, his father being 5 years dead, but he didn't use, or want to use them. He did want to help though, just not as a soldier. He was a skilled carpenter and he could assist in building wagons to carry supplies or erecting forts and the like. Healic, along with twenty or so decided to follow the black clad men to the outskirts of town. Once they were far from the prying eyes of the townsfolk the black clad men dismounted their steeds and turned to the group.

"My name," said the first. "Is Adim Rane. My partner is Jero Nean. We are from the Black Tower. The Black Tower is a place where men seeking the Lord Dragon's amnesty can train to channel without endangering those around him. We are here to; if you allow us to, take you to the Black Tower to test you for the ability to channel."

There was nervous shuffling at this. No man in his right mind wanted to know if he could channel. The Breaking of the World hadn't been forgotten in three thousand years and Dragonmount was a constant reminder. The men spoke again.

"If you do not wish to know if you can learn then you should leave now. Once we take you to the Tower you are ours. If you can channel you will join us. If not we will send you to Caemlyn to form the Lord Dragon's army."

At these words seven men left. A few ran but most just turned and left, trying to forget the whole business as quickly as possible. Healic stayed, he knew he couldn't channel, it was impossible. He was thirty-five, he would've gone insane by now and possibly killed hundreds of people, and he was sane; but he decided to go and become a carpenter in the Dragon Reborn's army. He would do his part. There were thirteen men left, including him. The black clad men looked at them and nodded. The one who was called Adim nodded to Jero and suddenly, it seemed, a hole was ripped in the air, at the other side Healic could see what looked to be a farmer's field. He turned to Adim.

"How did you-" he was cut off.

"It's called a gateway. Don't worry, just walk through it and you'll be where you are needed."

Healic shut his eyes tightly and stepped through. Suddenly he was in a large treeless field. There were about twenty or thirty men in the field, all dressed like Adim or Jero. There was doing any number of things. Some were practicing with swords and others were doing martial arts. What scared him were the others, some people were being lifted in the air and others were making boulders explode. Healic was wide eyed as he saw the spectacle before him. It was only when Jero laid a hand on his shoulders did he break out of his stupor.

"Come," he said. "It is time to be tested."

Healic and the others were led to a large barn. He assumed this was the Black Tower proper. The men were led inside and Healic was impressed with its structure. On the far wall there were beds, enough beds to sleep fifty or so men and by each bed there was a trunk. He guessed the men here had their possessions, whatever they might consist of, kept. Along another wall was a kitchen and several women, possibly wives or sweethearts of the men, were cooking. Finally, at one end there was a very clean brick fireplace where a tall dark haired man was standing, staring into the flame. The man had an air about him that told Healic that he was not to be trifled with. Adim went up to the man and whispered in his ear. The man stood up straight and turned. He had a scowl on his face and a crooked nose. He was slightly taller than normal and had large muscles. Healic knew who this was this was…

"This is Mazrim Taim," said Adim, gesturing to the man. "He is our leader and will be testing you to see if you can channel or not." Adim and Jero immediately left and went out to the field. Healic tried to see where they were going but Taim spoke and he listened.

"There is not much daylight left so I will not waste time explaining the finer points of the power to you, those of you left, until tomorrow. Now, who's first?"

The man was very loud and curt. Healic wanted to get out of here as fast as possible so he shakily raised his hand.

"You're not in school!" yelled Taim. "Get up here!"

Healic hurried to the front and was soon in front of the false Dragon of Saldea.

"What is your name?" asked Taim, eyeing him up.

"Healic Adlen," he said. "I am a carpenter of Illian."

"Why are you here?" asked Taim.

'Why did he have to ask all these questions?' thought Healic silently. "I am here because I wish to serve the Dragon Reborn."

"Very well," said Taim. "We will begin the testing." Taim held out his hand and a small flame was formed. It wasn't much more than a candles flame but Healic stared at it.

"Concentrate on the flame. You are the flame, the flame is the world, the flame is everything." said Taim.

Healic stared at the flame and felt nothing, suddenly Taim snapped at him.

"I said concentrate! Don't just look at it! Block out everything except the flame!"

Wanting to get out as soon as possible Healic did as he was told. His father had taught him a trick from the Aeil War. He taught him to put himself in a blank Void that would block out everything. Healic used it if his muscles were aching to ignore the pain when he had had a long day at the shop and he couldn't stop at an inn, but he seized the Void here and imagined the flame in it. It felt like hours when the flame vanished but it was only a few minutes.

"Okay," said Taim, taking away the flame. "You can learn. Next!"

'What!" said Healic incuriously.

"You can learn to channel, now who's next?"

Healic took a few steps and kneeled down. He ran his fingers through his hair and began breathing heavily as the others were tested. About half an hour later the testing was done. Along with him four could learn to channel, the other nine were sent along to Caemlyn, where Healic was praying he could go. Taim turned to the four who could and took them to the far end of the farmhouse to four beds.

"You sleep here tonight. Tomorrow I'll start teaching you about the Power."

Taim turned on a heel and left. Healic didn't like the man, he never smiled, it wasn't natural. Healic climbed into one of the beds and the instant his head hit the pillow he was asleep.


	2. Saidin

Healic was awake before the sun rose. Taim didn't let the men sleep long. He came into their quarters yelling.

"UP!" he yelled. "MORNING!"

Healic leapt out of his bed and looked to see what the others were doing. The others were reaching to their drunk and taking out their black coats. Healic leaned down to his and opened it. There were five black coats and a sword with a black sheath. Healic glanced around and saw everyone else dressing in their black coats and swords so Healic followed suit. He buttoned up his coat quickly and strapped on his sword as Taim came around inspecting everyone. When he passed Healic he stared in his eyes. Taim's eyes seemed to burn through to his soul. Taim moved on and soon gave his orders.

"Damer! I want you have five others to start channeling more boulders! Torval, oversee the clearing of trees. Eben! Practice weaving Air and Fire with some of the others. The four new ones, with me."

The men moved like machines, they ran to different places around the Tower with three men at their head. Healic guessed that they must be Damer, Torval, and Eben. There were many more men than the forty the farmhouse could hold. Healic guessed there must be other buildings or tents that he hadn't seen yet. He and the other three who had arrived yesterday hurried over to the fireplace where Taim was standing. They took seats and began to listen to Taim speak.

"First off," he began. "I'm going to tell you why you are here. You are here to learn to use the male half of the One Power, _saidin_, as a weapon. When you are done with your training you will be used as a weapon for the Dragon Reborn when Tarmon Gai'don comes. My job is to make you into those weapons. Before I can do that you need to understand the One Power and how to embrace _saidin_.

"There are five ways to use _saidin_," Taim continued. "Five different elements that you can manipulate to your will. They are Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. By mastering _saidin_ you can do things are simple as using Earth to create a boulder to things as complex as using Earth and Spirit to Travel hundreds of miles in an instant. But before you can even imagine using these powers you need to embrace _saidin_. You need to do that as soon as possible."

This was too much for one of the men. He stood up. "You're mad Taim!" he yelled. "Why would any of us want to use _saidin_? If you want to go insane then do it but you're not taking me with you!"

"Are you quite finished?" asked Taim, rather annoyed and unflustered.

"Well…" the man stammered. "Yes."

Suddenly the man fell over, unconscious.

"What did you just do?" asked a surprised and slightly horrified Healic.

"Here at the Black Tower," explained Taim. "Whenever you step out of line you receive a hard discipline. You are to be warriors, not coddled like schoolboys.

"Now as I was saying," continued Taim. "You are to embrace _saidin_ as soon as you can. Once you can embrace _saidin_ you'll be able to channel the five powers. The problem with channeling _saidin_ is that the taint on it drives any man insane, eventually. But here you will be safe from re-breaking the world.

"Now, actually embracing _saidin_ is difficult. Very difficult."

Healic was confused. He had heard people talk about Aes Sedia learning to channel and it seemed like all they had to do was "lay back" and "open up'. Of course all people ever got after that was that it was like sex for women. He decided to speak up. He figured that if he was to be a soldier, which he was still not happy or excited about, he wanted a few things answered. The man who had been "clubbed" woke up and sullenly took a seat.

"Why is it so hard to embrace _saidin_?" asked Healic. "The Aes Sedia seems to embrace their half of The One Power easily enough."

Taim chuckled softly, making a near smile. "That's because _saidar_ is very, very different from _saidin_. Embracing _saidar_, from what I've heard, is like tasting sweet honey. Embracing _saidin_ is like holding onto an avalanche of molten ice and freezing fire; and that's without the slick film of filth on the surface.

"Now," continued Taim. "You are to embrace _saidin_ as fast as you can. And today I will teach you to do that. The first thing you have to do is the same thing you did when I tested you. You must put yourself in a blank void. Push everything away, everything from the way your clothing is rubbing your skin, from the heat beating down from the sun. When you reach this void you should be able to sense something, like a light just out of sight. You have to reach this light; once you do it is then a simple matter of holding onto _saidin_ and holding off the insanity the taint brings on. Now begin."

Healic did as he was told. He searched for the Void his father had taught him about and he blocked out everything. He reached deeper and deeper into the Void until he noticed what Taim said he would. There was a light, a very faint light but the longer he sensed it the brighter it became. Finally he reached for it… and missed. Healic tried again and again and kept missing it by an inch, if you could measure distance in the Void. But he didn't give up, he kept grasping for _saidin_ and finally, after what felt like hours, he grabbed it.

Taim was right, it was like an avalanche of freezing fire and molten ice. But it was so good that he didn't want to give it up, it felt so sweet and pure but right there with it was the taint. It disgusted him; it made him want to vomit. It was like a man dying of thirst being given a glass of water with oil on the surface. But the sweetness of it made the taint worth it, almost. He held onto _saidin_ for a while and kept drawing more and more in. Soon though he felt as though the pleasure and ecstasy was slowly turning to pain and let go, somewhat reluctantly, of _saidin_. With the Void gone he was able to understand what was going on around him. Taim was peering at him with as close to as a smile as he believed Taim was ever going to get.

"Very good," he said. Healic didn't know if it was praise or not but he felt rather proud of himself. At least he wasn't insane yet, but he did realize why men did. The taint was… he couldn't think of any word to properly describe it except for dirty, or filthy. He wondered if the insanity came because it was from the Dark One or because the men felt filthy themselves. "Did you all see that?" asked Taim. "This one, what was your name again? Hearic was it?"

"Healic." he corrected.

"Healic," Taim went on. "Did it. He held _saidin_ and a good amount of it too. Tell us how you did that."

"Um…" started Healic. "I did exactly what you said to do Taim. I put myself in the Void and tried to find the light."

"Could you teach others how to do it?" asked Taim, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, if you want me to I'll try."

"Good," said Taim. Again Healic didn't know if that was meant to be praise or not. "Do so. Since you've touched _saidin_ once you should be able to sense when another does. I'll be back in one hour and I expect each one of you to be able to embrace the Source."

Taim turned on his heel and left the barn and went out to the field. Healic turned to the four others and swallowed. He didn't have a clue in the Light how he was supposed to teach them something he did by accident.

"Well," he said, crossing and uncrossing his arms nervously. "They way I found _saidin_ was by accident but I did find the Void. But I didn't do it by pushing out everything else I felt. I concentrated on a small flame like Taim made when he tested us. I forced myself to find it, that's the only way I can describe it." Healic searched for the Void again and grasped at _saidin_ again. He still had trouble grabbing it but it seemed easier than the first time. The torrent of freezing fire and molten ice struck him with the same ecstasy as before, and as before the oily taint crashed into him. The sweetness of _saidin_ made the taint worth it. He kept drawing on it, more and more until he felt the pain again and held it. He held _saidin_ and watched the others. Healic was surprised how much easier it was to see when he held _saidin_. The colors were sharper and he notice little things. The individual laces of the thread in the wool, the knots of wood in the chair and the barn and he could hear the men outside. He heard Taim yelling commands, something about Earth and Fire, wielding them while making a shield of Air at the same time. Nonsense to him; he turned back to the others and saw the on of them had grasped _saidin_ and Taim was right, Healic could tell. There was a bit of a glow about him, two of the others were flickering in the glow, grasping _saidin_ if only for an instant and losing it but soon after they were both holding it and not long after so was the last. Healic released _saidin_, sad to let the Source go but glad to be rid of the taint. He was at a loss for what to say to them so he calmly took a seat until Taim came back. When he did he stood in front of them for a moment until he snapped.

"Well?" he shouted.

Instantly, almost, Healic grabbed _saidin_ and let the sweetness ad filth fill him as much as he could hold. He felt the other four fill themselves with _saidin_ also. He stared at Taim waiting for what would come next. After a while Taim nodded and spoke.

"Good, you can all grasp it, which means we can start teaching you to channel sooner. Go get some breakfast and then I want you to go out to the forest line and tell the man there you are to learn to channel fire." Without another word Taim tuned back to the empty fireplace. Healic watched him for a moment, he saw the man hold _saidin_ for an instant and the fireplace leapt to life. He waited to see if Taim was going to give an explanation but he didn't so he hurried on to breakfast.

Most of the other men were eating also, a few talked but most just chewed in silence. All of their food was so hot that steam was rising but Healic's and the four others were cold as bones. He hated cold food, especially cold eggs and ham. He forced them down but was compelled to ask one of the other men why his food was cold and the others was hot.

"Once you learn to channel fire expertly enough you'll be able to heat your food, you don't eat hot until you can channel fire well enough." he said. "But don't worry, Taim makes sure it's the first thing you learn when you can seize _saidin_."

"So we can heat our food?"

The man chuckled softly. "Not exactly. See fire is the most useful of the powers if you're being trained to be a weapon. Armies aren't going to stand up to you very long if you're hurling balls of fire at them."

"Can you do that?" asked Healic.

"The Leader tells me you are to be taught fire after breakfast." The man answered. "I am going to be teaching you. Trust me, when I'm through with you, you'll be able to topple the walls of Caemlyn." He laughed a hearty laugh upon seeing the shock and awe on Healic's face. "Don't worry, no one will be asking you to do that, exactly."

Healic finished his disgustingly cold breakfast and tried to relax for a moment but soon heard everyone else leave and, not wanting to seem lazy, he hurried after them. He soon caught up to his "friends" from Illian. Only one of them seemed unfazed enough to speak to him.

"You're Healic aren't you?" he asked. "You owned that carpenters shop in the Trade District."

"Yes," said Healic. "That was me."

"I always liked your work. You were the best woodcarver in our village." he said.

"What about you?" asked Healic. He looked up and saw that not far off there was a man holding his elbows and apparently waiting for them to show up so they could learn to channel Fire.

"I was a leatherworker, _Shan's Leatherworking_" he said. "My shop was down a few blocks and it was in one of less reputable areas of town but my work was top grade."

"Wish I had known," said Healic. "All my leather goods were junk."

The two laughed and soon they were in front of their instructor.

"The Leader tells me you are to be taught to channel Fire." he said "When we're through with you, you'll make armies tremble. Now to begin you need to grasp _saidin_ and hold as much of it as you can." The man did this and Healic followed suit. He noticed that the man stopped drawing it in before Healic did and began to wonder why. He had never thought much about channeling but it made sense that not everyone was equal. He remembered Taim, the man who everyone else referred to as 'The Leader' he guessed, glowed a good deal brighter than some of the men. But Healic felt more power in himself than in this man, maybe he was just holding back but he was speaking again and Healic paid attention. "Once you have _saidin_ in you, you have to force Fire out of you. You have to force the Power to work for you. You have to imagine with all your being that fire must be created, that fire must live. You have to tell yourself that you will hold a small ball of fire in your hand and you must tell yourself that so firmly that it has to happen."

To Healic this seemed to be fairly simple. He was being told to do, essentially, what he had to do when grasping _saidin_. He took a breath and grasped _saidin_, the relished in the warmth of _saidin_ but the mire of the taint also seeped into his veins. While he was holding onto the avalanche of molten ice and frigid fire he glanced at the man who was to be teaching them and saw his eyes wide.

"What is it?" asked Healic.

"You have power." he said simply. "When you are trained… you will be powerful."

Healic had a desire to ask more but he would later, eventually he would talk to one of these men and get some questions answered. He pushed that out of his mind and began concentrating. He cupped his hands and shut his eyes seeing his hands in his mind's eye and concentrating. He imagined himself holding a ball of fire. He imagined himself with a ball of flame in his hands. He saw himself holding fire, wielding it, controlling it. After several moments of this he heard his trainer's voice.

"You're a fast learner Healic." He said. "Very fast." Healic could tell this was not praise; it was the man's tone. It was suspicion. Why?


	3. Swords

The trainer grabbed Healic's shoulder and led him, roughly, to the farmhouse, to Taim, The Leader. He was standing at the fireplace, staring into the flame and speaking to two black coated men.

"I want you two to go recruiting in Tarabon until you have twenty men with you and then return."

"Yes, M'Hael." They said in unison before they disappeared through gateways. Healic saw something this time when they channeled. He couldn't describe it at all but for some reason it seemed like he could _see_ what they had done.

"M'Hael?" said the man.

"Yes?" said Taim. Apparently this was his new name. He realized that the man wasn't questioning the name… no not name. It was his title.

"This man," said Taim, shaking Healic. "Is learning very quickly. He channeled a sizeable ball of fire the first time he attempted it. He can also hold a sizeable amount of _saidin_ in him for one who has only begun channeling."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will take it from here Zak." Zak was apparently his trainer's name. It was also apparent you didn't have a name until The Lea- the M'Hael gave you one.

Shan left and Taim stared back into the fire, filling himself with _saidin_ as he did. Healic could feel the power in the other man.

"Do it." he said. "Grasp as much _saidin_ as you can and hold it."

Healic grabbed onto the Power as freezing fire, sweltering ice, and sickly taint filled him, until the ecstasy turned to pain and held it in front of Taim. He was nowhere near the level that Taim was holding, but what Taim seemed to be holding was incomprehensible. Taim stared at him, no, though him. The man had a penetrating air about him. Taim cupped his hands as an orb of fire appeared in his hands. This time what Taim did Healic could see. Somehow he _saw_ Taim weave fire into his hands. Healic mimicked what he had seen Taim do and an orb the same size formed in his hands. Taim flicked that almost smile and spoke.

"Make one as large as you can. Once it is in your hands make it grow until you cannot anymore." Healic concentrated and the flame began to form in his hands. He let the ball grow and grow until it was nearly as large as Taim's torso before he ordered him to stop.

"Why did this worry Zak?" asked Healic, making his flame dissipate. "If we're supposed to be weapons isn't it good that I can do this so quickly?"

"The Dragon Reborn told me to check anyone who was learning too quickly, lest one of the Forsaken try to slip in amongst us."

"Do you think I'm one of the Forsaken?" asked Healic.

"No," said Taim. "I don't. Go," he said. "The rest of your group, are going to lunch." Taim turned back to the empty fireplace and it sprung to life. Healic stayed for a few moments and stared into the flame, it was hard to describe but he had _seen_ Taim ignite the fire. He had _seen_ the man use _saidin_ to start that fire. As Healic left he began thinking… if it was possible to use Fire to make a ball of fire and use it to set things on fire… he shuddered to think of what he could do. He stared down at his hands and made another sweep of the field. Some men were making boulders out of nothing, others were lifting people up and others were making balls of fire. On the other side of the barn he saw a shirtless man with dozens of men in front of him, practicing swordplay. The sword at his side suddenly got heavier and he realized it wasn't for show apparently. He supposed sword play was to come after lunch.

Lunch was a stew, there was some kind of meat in it that Healic suspected was beef but he wasn't sure. It was disgustingly cold also, he didn't want to attempt something as fine as heating his food yet, and he was afraid he'd burn it if he just allowed a ball of fire to hover over it. The others from Illian obviously didn't like how he had channeled so quickly, or they were afraid he'd go insane sooner but Shan sat with him.

"What did the Leader want?" he asked.

"The M'Hael," corrected Healic. "Taim is calling himself The M'Hael now."

"What does M'Hael mean?" asked Shan.

"It means Leader in the Old Tounge," said a new voice. It was the old man that Healic had seen with some of the men. "It's what Taim is calling himself ever since the Lord Dragon and he spoke in Cairhein. He had asked him to come to the farm but he refused. Taim assumed that to mean he was in charge then so he took a name. When you're done tell the rest of your group to come to me. We need to start your sword training."

Healic and Shan finished quickly and gathered the men. The sword at his side had seen to have grown heavier but it was only because he was now aware of it. He went behind the barn and saw the man with his sword drawn. The man stared at them and they all drew theirs. Surprisingly enough Healic didn't stab himself but still held the weapon in front of him, almost scared of it. The man began speaking.

"My name is Henre Haslin." he said. "And The M'Hael has asked me to instruct you how to use swords."

"This is stupid," said Shan to Healic. "We can make fire and I saw some men ripping trees from the ground and blowing up boulders. Why in the Light do we need this?"

"You need this Shan," said Haslin. "In case the Aes Sedia find you and capture you. You're not false Dragons but you can channel and they will never let you go willingly. You need to know how to defend yourself.

"Now," said Haslin, starting to pace. "I doubt any of you will become blade masters, you're not here to become blade masters, and you're here to learn to defend yourself if the Power is stripped from you. Now all of you draw your weapons."

Healic drew his blade and held it upright, the bright sunlight shining off the steel blade. He could see the reflection of his eyes in it when his instructor's voice cut through the air.

"When you're fighting someone you use what are called sword forms. These are just how they are named. I am going to teach you a simple one today called "Harvesting the Wheat". Now to begin cross your arm across your chest, the blade of your sword out and simply bring it across, your arm extended the whole way." The man did this as a demonstration. Healic was amazed how calm the man felt by handing the sword Healic felt like the thing was going to jump out and stab him. It didn't and it wouldn't be he still despised using it. A sword was a weapon, a weapon made to kill people, though seeing as how he was being trained to be a killer it almost felt… well right. Healic copied what the Haslin did with the rest of the students and was amazed by how easily it was done.

"Good," said Haslin. "But seeing as how any simpleton can do this that's not too high a praise." Healic began wondering if this man was going to be as hard as Taim. He could not think of the man as M'Hael. He listened.

"Now," the man continued. "Although this is a very, very basic sword form, almost all the more complex ones feed off of it. You can't even fathom learning them unless you learn the simpler one first. Now everyone pair up."

Healic instantly locked eyes with Shan and they both nodded and paired.

"Now!" shouted Haslin. "'Harvesting The Wheat' is not very useful on it's own but even blade master's have used it to save their hides. It is only useful on it's own in defense against a stab attack. Tell your partner to slowly stab at you and then use 'Harvesting The Wheat' to defend yourself against it. Do it fifty times each and then your let go to your free time until dinner. Go!"

Healic and Shan looked at each other and shrugged. Healic held his sword at his side and waved Shan onto him. Healic did 'Harvesting The Wheat' and turned the blade aside with surprising ease. The he stabbed at Shan and his blade was turned aside. The two smiled and took alternating turns turning away each other's blades. They began to grow bold and started stabbing at the other faster and faster. Soon they had a ring of students around them, watching them fight. The students around them were in silence as the clanging of steel was ringing in the air until, finally, they arms were getting tired. Shan stabbed but Healic wasn't fast enough and Shan's blade went three inches into his stomach. Healic yelled and grabbed his side as he fell, thankfully, on his back. A few of the students helped him up but none made a move after that. Hearing his scream, Henre, was soon at his side.

"Fool boy!" he shouted. "How fast were you two dueling?" he sighed. "Go lie down, I'll have your supper brought to you." Healic nodded and, holding his side he went into the barn. Taim was still there, did he ever leave.

"What are you doing?" he asked eyeing Healic. Healic took his hand away from his side and Taim nodded. "The One Power can be used to Heal wounds but you will not be. Only when you are grievously injured will you be Healed."

"What kind of things go on here that make a stab wound not grievous?" he asked, surprised at his boldness. Taim seemed to be too and flicked the half smile at him.

"Things that would make you pass out in shock." Taim said walking towards him slowly. "Destroying a man by ripping him apart from the insides, making the ground erupt in geysers of fire, pulling a man's limbs off; these are the things you will learn at the Black Tower Healic. The Lord Dragon," he seemed to speak that name with spite. "Told me to make you into weapons and that is what I intend to do. Go rest now. I will have Shan bring you supper and then I advise you to use your free time to rest. Perhaps tomorrow I will Heal you. But I doubt it." Taim turned on a dime and walked back to the fireplace. He stared into it and it sprung to life. Healic laid down, undid his coat and sighed. This was his life now… a weapon.


	4. The Dragon Comes

"UP!" The familiar voice of the M'Hael rousing them all from slumber. "MORNING!" Healic snapped awake and was quickly dressed in his black coat, sword hanging at his side as he stood at perfect attention next to Shan. It had been three weeks since Healic, Shan and the others from Illian had arrived. Unfortunately Healic and Shan had been isolated from the others due to their close friendship and now they were two of the fastest learning students.

They were still nowhere near Damer Flinn, Fedwin Morr or Taim's favorite Torval, but the two had been included in some of the plans the M'Hael had for the Black Tower. Taim wanted to, eventually; replace the old barn, which had been amazingly renovated, with an actual stone tower. Healic had to agree that if the Black Tower was ever meant to achieve stand in the world having a rickety barn was not the way to go.

Not much had been said between the M'Hael and the two since then but they had more than enough to keep themselves busy. The past three weeks had been hard and brutal but the men had become very powerful. Apart from their lessons with Fire, which they were both skilled enough with that they had warm meals every day, they were also very skilled with Earth, Air, Water and Spirit. Fire was still the most useful skill as a weapon but Earth was being incorporated to almost every weave, as was Air. Possibly the most violent weave they had learned involved using Fire and Earth to blow boulders apart and using Air at the same time to prevent one of the flying fragments from striking you. Taim had told them that by adjusting the flow just so you could blow up someone's head which, at first, Healic was appalled at. But after several weeks he began to wonder, just wonder, if he was ever going to have to.

After morning inspection Taim gave out the day assignments. "Torval! Inspect the clearing of trees; we need a new stock of timber! Edwin! Take some of the new students and teach them to lift each other using Air! Shan and Healic! Stay here!"

The men ran off while Healic and Shan stayed, wondering what the M'Hael wanted. As in his fashion Taim stared at the fireplace for several moments before floating the last of the timber to it and wove threads of Fire into them as they ignited. "Do you remember," he said. "Anything about my plans for the Tower?" he asked. The sharpness was not gone from his voice when he spoke to them but he didn't seem nearly as curt or hard with them. Still he knew they were not friends or anything of the sort. Taim wasn't actual friends with anyone but he did seem to have his favorites.

"Well," said Shan. "You told us that to make this a permanent facility we need to have a fortified structure to represent us."

"A stone fortification," said Healic. "Were the words you used. My advice would be contracting some masons from Caemlyn to come and see how much it would cost to have this barn replaced with a black tower of our own. That or experimenting with channeling Earth to see if we could make bricks like we did the podium." He smiled at his play on words.

Taim stared into the fire for a time. "I have some ideas of my own." he said. "I want you two to work on channeling Earth to see how to make actual stone instead of misshapen boulders. The podium worked well enough but I still want you two to see what you can come up with."

Healic and Shan nodded and jogged out of the barn and onto the fields. They went over to an area they had been calling the Testing Ground. Whenever you wanted to try or perfect a new weave you went here. Healic and Shan grasped saidin and filled themselves to the brim with it. Many a time Healic had tried to image saidin without the Taint, what it must be like to feel only the pure cleanness of the Power without the sickly molten fluid coursing through you with it. He was able to stand the Taint though and it was not driving him mad so he did not worry about it, he could not worry about it. Yet.

They had been channeling Earth for about an hour when it happened. They had been trying to mold the shapes to their liking using just Earth but without adding a healthy dose of Fire to melt the stone it was impossible to make square bricks. Then wanted to make about twenty bricks or so to show Taim but a weave of Spirit and Earth made their heads turn.

They turned and saw a man in a red coat talking to Torval, Taim coming up behind them. Torval fell over due to a club of Air that Taim was fond of and he spoke to the man in red. Healic held saidin and stared at the man but he didn't know who he was.

"Is that… is that…?" said Shan, exasperated.

"It must be," said Healic frowning. "That's him, that's the Dragon Reborn."

"MEN!" he heard Taim shout. His voice boomed over the whole Black Tower. "ASSEMBLE AT THE PODIUM!" Taim had discovered a weave, using Air and Fire, to amplify his voice. It wasn't much use as a weapon but it was handy when he had to assemble the men.

The men assembled, standing at attention, the same way they did when Taim made an address. The man in the red coat, the Dragon Reborn, walked up and began to speak.

"You've all probably heard stories that the Tower . . . the White Tower . . . has divided. Well, it's true. There are some rebel Aes Sedai who might just decide to follow me, and they've sent emissaries. Nine of them, sitting in Caemlyn right now and waiting my pleasure. So when you hear about Aes Sedai in Caemlyn, don't believe any rumors. You know why they are here, and you can laugh in the face of the fellow with the rumor."

They made no reaction; there was no need for one really. Taim looked at the Dragon with a cynical look. Healic had long heard stories that people had thought that Taim had been the Dragon Reborn and he was the closest ever come to fulfilling one of the Prophecies of the Dragon. The man continued his speech, taking out a largish bag.

"You need a name. In the Old Tongue, Aes Sedai means Servants of All, or something very close. The Old Tongue doesn't translate easily. Another word in the Old Tongue is asha'man. It means guardian, or guardians. Or defender, and maybe a couple of other things; I told you, the Old Tongue is very flexible. Guardian seems to be best, though. Not just any defender or guardian, though. You could not call a man who defended an unjust cause asha'man, and never one that was evil. An asha'man was a man who defended truth and justice and right for everyone. A guardian who would not yield even when hope was gone. That is what you are here to become. When you finish your training, you will be Asha'man."

They were more interested in what the Dragon had to say now. A few men muttered the word to themselves. Healic, at least, no longer felt like he just some man in a coat, who would eventually go mad. He was still that but the name gave them a sense of unity, more so than The Black Tower did.

"Aes Sedai begin as novices, then become Accepted, then finally full Aes Sedai. You will have degrees, too, but not like theirs. There will be no putting out or sending away among us. When a man first comes to the Black Tower he will be called a soldier, because that is what he becomes when he joins us, what you all became, a soldier to fight the Shadow, and not just the Shadow, but anyone who opposes justice or oppresses the weak. When a soldier reaches a certain stage in his skills, he will be called Dedicated, and wear this." He pulled a small silver pin out of this bag. "Taim."

Taim stepped up next to the Dragon and he had the pin put on his collar. It was a small silver sword, wonderfully crafted with a slightly curved blade. It looked nice, Taim did not. He had not grabbed _saidin_ but he looked close. He had never seen Taim quite as angry as he was now. Taim was passed the bag and had something whispered to him. The Dragon seemed to ignore this, or not notice, and went on.

"Dedicated who advance their skill far enough will be called Asha'man, and they will wear this." This time the pin was larger and golden. It seemed to be a serpent with feet. Healic pondered a moment before it hit him. That pin must be what a dragon looks like. The man put that on Taim's collar. "I suppose I was the first Asha'man but Mazrim Taim is the second." Taim looked ready to kill someone, most likely the Dragon "I hope that all of you will become Asha'man eventually, but whether you do or not, remember that all of us are soldiers. There are many battles ahead, maybe not always the ones we expect, and at the end, the Last Battle. The Light send it is the last. If the Light shines on us, we will win. We will win because we must win."

In a time before Healic probably would've cheered at this speech being given but in all honesty he didn't feel like it. Perhaps it was all the training with saidin that made them apathetic or maybe it was the fact that the Dragon seemed to be intruding on them. If this man was their leader then why was he never here? The Dragon stepped down from the podium and he and Taim went into the farm. Taim commanded them to return to their lessons and chores. Healic jogged and caught up with Shan.

"Have you ever seen the M'Hael so angry?" he asked.

"Never." answered Shan. "What do you say to giving him time to calm down before we show him our bricks?"

"I'd like to stay alive too." He said smiling.

A few hours later they felt the same ripple of Earth and Spirit as the Dragon left. By this time Healic and Shan had about twenty bricks. They wove several weaves of Air and started back to the Tower, their bricks following them about five paces behind, that was when they saw Taim, and he was raging. Healic didn't know how much _saidin_ he was holding but enough that if it got out of control he could kill himself, and probably most of them. He released his flows of Air and approached him calmly.

"M'Hael?" he said softly. "What is the problem?"

Taim wheeled on him. "You called me M'Hael! You called me leader! I am your leader right!" he shouted.

"Yes," said Healic. "Of course." When he first came to the Tower, being screamed at with the rage Taim was showing might've been scared beyond belief but he was harder.

"Who is your leader? Me or the Lord Dragon?"

"You."

"Good." Taim reached to his collar and ripped the pins off. He balled his hands into fists until blood began leaking out of them. Taim tossed the pins into the fire and walked back up into the barn.

The next morning Taim's wake up call changed a little.

"ASHA'MAN! ASSEMBLE AT THE PODIUM!

Wasting no time Healic dressed hurriedly and ran outside where the rest of the men were assembling. Once they had all filed into ranks Taim took his place at the podium, pins vacant from his collar.

"As per the Lord Dragon's instructions I am to bestow onto you, you whose skills with _saidin_ have progressed far enough the rank of Dedicated. If I give your name come forward. "Torval!"

Of course Torval had been called, he was probably the strongest man here, aside from Taim himself. Apart from Torval, Fedwin, Damer, Eben and a few others had been called before Taim called out two name he hadn't been expecting.

"Healic and Shan!"

The two jogged forward and Taim gave them their pins on the left side of the collar and they took their place next to the 20 or so men who had been bestowed with the Sword.

"Look at these men." said Taim to the rest of the Soldiers. "These men have held onto their sanity and they are the most powerful among us. They are to be commended!"

This was the closest thing to praise that Taim had ever spoken. Healic, as he stared at the hundred or others he felt a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

'Dedicated Healic,' he thought to himself. 'Perhaps one day Asha'man Healic… this life may not be so bad after all.'

His smile grew and he and Shan went off to lessons, a few that, now that they were Dedicated, they had the sole role of teaching. His smile grew and he began laughing.


	5. Asha'man

It had been nearly three weeks since the Dragon Reborn had come to Black Tower. The number of men enrolled at the Tower had been swelling by three or four a day, but men were dying at least one or two a day. It had only been six weeks but Healic and Shan were the only ones left from the four from Illian. None of the others had ever been able to channel well. Healic and Shan, however, had been growing rapidly and now were only steps behind Torval, Fedwin and a man named Davisha. Twenty men besides Healic and Shan wore the Sword. There were four Asha'man, twenty-six Dedicated and about 200 men who were Soldiers.

Since the Dragon's visit to the Tower, Taim had been training them much more like a military unit. Healic was surprised at his vigor but with them being weapons he began to wonder why he didn't start it earlier. They had awoken one day to find that half of the fields were covered in a thick layer of stone, a massive channeling of Earth from Taim alone, but he and Torval seemed to be spending a lot of time together, perhaps it was not all him. That was the first day Taim had trained them all together he remembered it clearly.

_"You all know that you are here to be weapons." barked Taim, pacing up and down the huddled mass of men. "And if you're too be weapons in an army you need to know how to behave like an army. Today that begins. I doubt any of you have ever been in an actual army so I'll have to start from the bottom. Everyone in a straight line. NOW!"_

_The man ran in a hurried and awkward straight-ish line in front of the mass of stone. It was imperfect but that hardly seemed to matter to Taim._

_"Normal soldiers would have sword or spears in a position like this. Your swords are of no use when I call for you to be in this formation. The Line of Battle; when you hear me give the command to form the Line of Battle you are to drop whatever you are doing and form this line. I want the full Asha'man at the ends with the Dedicated inside and the Soldiers in the center." This time there was no pause before the men began scrambling to their positions. Healic took a spot right next to Dashiva. He didn't like Dashiva, the man had his head in the clouds to many times, but Taim was speaking so he listed._

_"The commands I will be giving are extremely simple so you all can remember them! If the Line of Battle is ever formed it is extremely unlikely that my next words will not be ASHA'MAN KILL!"_

_At these words Taim threw out a complex weave of Fire, Earth and Air at the boulders and an entire row of them were destroyed in an instant, blowing them to dust. He repeated the weave as row after row of boulders were channeled to dust at an amazing rate._

_"This is a weave that you will use when being faced with a rush of soldiers." he said with that unnerving half smile of his. But there is something much more deadly to be used should the soldiers attempt to run." Healic listened with interest to this, two months ago he would have been horrified to hear that men were running from battle they would be pursued but now Healic just wanted to know what he could do to show men the price of going against the Asha'man._

_"TORVAL! FLINN! ROCHIAD! DASHIVA!" Taim called, asking for his four full Asha'man. "Asha'man! Rolling Ring of Earth and Fire!"_

_The ground where the boulders were exploded in flame a hundred feet high. An insanely complex weave of Earth and Fire was gushing from the four men and into the ground. The earth opened up and pillars of fire flew to the heavens and came crashing back down only to pass new waves going up. Healic thought he was going to be sick as he began seeing bodies fly in the air being ripped apart. A small voice, his he prayed, was in his head whispering to him._

_'Who can stand against us?' he thought. 'Who in the world would dare to?"_

_"No one." he answered himself. "No one can stand against us."_

Healic felt a ripple of Earth and Spirit as the M'Hael came through a gateway and went straight into the barn… well not a barn any longer. They had thrown the barn down and every Asha'man and Dedicated spent the day channeling Earth and now a tall tower stood in its place. Only Taim and the full Asha'man lived there now. Everyone else was sleeping in tents, except the Dedicated. There were three stone houses where the Dedicated lived, ten to a house. Healic wondered why the M'Hael was upset. He worried also, worried because if the M'Hael was angry he wasn't too safe. Healic shrugged and turned back to the Soldier they were training.

"Okay," he commanded. Healic and Shan taught a class together, teaching men how to make bricks like they had when the Tower was built. "When you channel Earth you have to mix Fire into it but if you do it too fast you'll just destroy your rocks. Begin!"

The 20 or so men they were training all let their weaves of Earth come out, sizeable amounts but men were more intoned to Earth and Fire whereas women were more inclined to Water and Air. Seeing as how the most violent weaves were of blends of Earth and Fire it suited the Asha'man fine. Air was used by in such a small miniscule amount that anyone who could grasp _saidin_ could weave it. The Earth flowed from them into large misshapen boulders and soon the flows of fire came, three managed to superheat their rocks. The rest were almost treated to large gashes in them it was purely because it was their first time that Healic and Shan had woven large shields of Air around them. "Did I not say to go slowly?" he asked. "Doing what you have done is good but that is not the lesson for today. When we send you to Torval you will be a head of the game but until then you will do as you are instructed. Do you understand?"

The Soldier did not answer but simply nodded. Healic did the same and ordered them to continue, constantly channeling new boulders for them to mold. Over time they had enough boulders for about a single story building when Taim's call told them it was time for the first classes to have lunch. Healic and Shan led there men to the palace, as Taim was calling it, for their food. Taim was sitting down ringing his hands together, looking rather worried. Healic looked at Shan and they nodded as they walked over.

"M'Hael?" he asked standing at ease. "Does something trouble you?"

"The Lord Dragon is not in Cairhein." he said. "Nor is he in Caemlyn. Nor Tear."

Healic and Shan exchanged nervous glances, if the Lord Dragon was missing then things would not be good.

"Would he not be with the Aes Sedia in Caemlyn?" asked Shan. "He said there were rebel Aes Sedia there."

"No one in Caemlyn knows where he is." answered Taim, grasping _saidin_. When Taim grasped _saidin_ there was no telling what might happen.

Healic frowned, this was worrying.

"He was always Traveling between Caemlyn and Cairhein, never telling anyone where he was going but I would have found him by now!" yelled Taim. He stood up and punched a wall. "I do what he tells me and all I get his is contempt! Well I will show him! I will find him and save him and then we will see what he thinks of me!" Taim got up and strode back into the barn screaming his head off.

"I have never seen the M'Hael that angry…" said Healic.

"It makes sense though," said Shan, as the two sat down in the grass, resting for a moment. "I have spoken with some of the men who have been here since the start, they said the Lord Dragon has only been here twice and yet he expects to be our leader. I very much doubt that any of the men here are loyal to the Lord Dragon anymore. Much less loyal than the Aes Sedia are."

"The ones in Caemlyn," responded Healic. "Being rebels of the White Tower would probably serve him." Suddenley Healic's eyes shot wide open. "Oh Light…" he muttered standing up.

"What?" said Shan, following him up.

"There are rebel Aes Sedia in Caemlyn." he said. "But what if those aren't the only Aes Sedia meeting with him. What if there are Tower Aes Sedia in Cairhein!?"

Healic and Shan looked at each other and then at the same instant bellowed "M'HAEL!"


End file.
